ISLAMABAD   -   Despite facing a financial crunch, the Econom­ic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved another Rs20 billion for Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Pro­gramme (SAP) — which would be used by law­makers for development projects.

The ECC chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has Rs20 billion in favour of the Cabinet Division for Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP). Initially, the government had allocated Rs70 billion for SAP in the FY23 budget. However, despite facing a financial crunch and fol­lowing an austerity plan, the federal government increased the volume of SAP to Rs111 billion after approving different supplementary grants in the last few months.

The Ministry of Industries and Production submitted a summary on Urea Fertilizer re­quirement for year 2023 and briefed on the urea fertilizer situation in the country. The ECC after detailed discussion allowed SNGPL based fertilizer plants - Fatima Fertilizer (Sheikhupu­ra) and Agritech to operate beyond May 31st, 2023 till August 31st, 2023 on indigenous gas with no subsidy requirement from the federal government.

Ministry of Climate Change & Environmen­tal Coordination submitted a summary on participation of Sindh mangroves projects in voluntarily carbon markets and presented that Sindh Forest Department is implement­ing two Indus Delta Mangrove projects viz Delta Blue Carbon-I(DBC-I) and Delta Blue Carbon-II (DBC-II) to generate carbon cred­its and trade with international entities on Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). The ECC af­ter discussion approved the proposal of the Ministry that the DBC-I and DBC-II projects as these were initiated prior to the commit­ment made under NDCs in 2021. These proj­ects are expected to generate about $200 to $220 million till 2043 with additional bene­fits of creating green jobs.

The ECC has approved Rs. 10,746.216 million in favour of Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) to procure vaccines and syringes for unin­terrupted supply to the provinces, Rs. 25 million in favour of President Secretariat for ERE expendi­tures, Rs. 208 million in favour of Intelligence Bu­reau to meet its employee related expenses and Rs4000 million in favour of Ministry of Defence to meet its expenditures.